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NGC and NumisMedia Expand Relationship

Posted on 7/9/2008

Open Access for Online F.M.V. PricesBeginning July 1st, NGC and NumisMedia will expand the availability of F.M.V. prices to more collectors and dealers. This relationship brings many benefits, including lower monthly price guide rates and more online resources.

Since 2005, NumisMedia has been the official price guide of NGC, the leading third-party coin grading service, and the Collectors Society. Now, proudly, NGC and NumisMedia are working together to expand the availability of our Fair Market Value prices to more collectors and dealers.

Beginning July 1st, viewing the NumisMedia Online Fair Market Value Price Guide (all grades, Good through MS70) will no longer require a password and username. Previously, in order to access grades MS61-MS70 online you had to be a collector subscriber to the monthly F.M.V. Price Guide. By opening the Mint State grades to all visitors of NumisMedia.com, we hope to present our impartial and independent Fair Market Value Price Guide to a wider audience.

The regular subscription rates for the monthly F.M.V. Price Guide have also changed; dropping as much as 12.5 percent. The new subscription rates are listed inside this publication and online. Special discounted subscriber rates will see similar reductions.

Congruently, NGC will begin to broaden their use of NumisMedia’s F.M.V. Prices on the NGC Web site (www.ngccoin.com) and the Collectors Society Web site (www.collectors-society.com). Price listing will be expanded in the Census Report to now include MS61-MS70 prices and will soon be integrated into selected NGC research sections of their Web site, including the Coin Encyclopedia, and the VarietyPlus™ Catalog.

The NGC Coin Encyclopedia, a new online resource, currently has over 200 different coin types included. Each is described with an entertaining and informative historical summary, detailing its background and occasion for issuance. Every coin is illustrated with examples chosen from the Photo Proof image archive, NGC’s premier coin imaging service. Many coins are also accompanied by a comprehensive gallery of images from the NGC Registry. These user-supplied images allow viewers to quickly examine a broad array of different grades and dates for each U.S. coin type. A searchable bibliography has also been incorporated into the Encyclopedia for collectors who wish to continue to expand their learning.

VarietyPlus, another valuable service offered by NGC, is the attribution of coin varieties: coins which differ from their basic design type in some distinctive way. Thousands of varieties have been photographed and cataloged in reference books, making them highly collectable. The VarietyPlus Catalog is a comprehensive guide to the varieties recognized by NGC. A future release will include important attribution information and detailed photographs.

By furthering our relationship with NGC, our hope is that it will have a positive effect on the collecting community as a whole. NGC’s name recognition and their mission of constantly improving the numismatic environment for collectors makes for a complementary and harmonious relationship for the two organizations.

The uncertain economy will certainly make this an interesting summer for the coin business. Even though the overall market remains very strong, some dealers and collectors whose income is tied somewhat to the influences of this muddled economy may not be so lucky. Consumer prices are going up in direct response to higher oil prices, the stock market is wobbly at best, and many more Americans are losing their jobs. In addition, the summer months are normally a time when the coin market takes a breather, especially for more common coins. However, the biggest challenges may await those serious collectors who are trying to acquire numismatic rarities.

What we are seeing now is that average collectors are slowing down on their numismatic purchases while some others may be forced into selling. The more common material has been bringing discounts creating lower F.M.V. prices. The rare coins are still commanding premiums over current F.M.V., which usually prices most average collectors out of the competition. However, there is still a large group of collectors with the wherewithal to persistently put their investment money into rare coins; thus, we continue to find extremely active buyers for rare coins and low census coins in the upper grades.

The ANA World’s Fair of Money at the Baltimore Convention Center, usually the highlight show of the year, is not far off, running July 29th to August 2nd. Many dealers wait for this show to bring out some of their most important rarities and collectors save all year long in anticipation of this major, well-attended event. Heritage Auction Galleries hosts the official auction and it is sure to set some new records. One of the highlights of this sale will be the section of Deep Mirror Prooflike Morgan Dollars. This is from one of the finest collections assembled in the last 10 years and will attract the top collectors in this area.

In the last few months, we have noticed an increase in demand for Carson City coins. When it comes to U.S. gold, these coins are not readily available. In many cases, when they are offered in auctions, the competition is fierce and most will sell for premiums of F.M.V. There are numerous advances to the F.M.V. this past month as a result of reported transactions. The majority of sales are usually Extra Fine to MS61 because anything higher in quality is just not entering the market.

As recently noted, activity for GSA Carson City Morgan Dollars has been very steady and prices reported for the highest grades certified by NGC are bringing record prices. This past month, the 1883 CC and 1884 CC in MS67 (NGC certified in the black holder) have increased from $7,060 and $7,500 to $9,060 and $9,380, respectively. Registry collectors are always trying to improve their standing compared to others within these specific series. One of the problems with collecting the Carson City Dollars in the black holder is that some of the rare dates are simply not available. However, we have just learned that the only 1889 CC in a black holder is available and may soon be certified by NGC. The lucky collector who adds this to his or her registry set will surely have one up on the competition.

This is a guest article written by:

The thoughts and opinions in the piece are those of their author and are not necessarily the thoughts of the Certified Collectibles Group.